The general gloom surrounding Birmingham’s legal sector has continued with the announcement by Clarke Wilmott that it has launched a redundancy consultation process.

The firm, which has its national headquarters in Edmund Street, empolys 630 staff across offices in Bristol, Southampton and Taunton.

A statement from the company said the review is likely to amount to between 20 and 40 redundancies from fee earning and support staff and will be completed by the end of November with the cuts being felt across all offices and most legal divisions.

Chief Executive David Sedgwick said: “These steps are being taken in direct response to lower demand for legal services being felt by all firms at the moment and we don’t take them lightly. Clarke Willmott is, and will continue to be a strong business, but we live and work in difficult and unprecedented times.

"We, like most firms, are reviewing half-year figures at the end of October, and need to adapt to changing economic circumstances. By taking decisive action now, rather than deferring to the New Year, we will emerge from this period of turmoil as a far stronger business when market conditions improve.

"The numbers of people affected by this programme represent a very small proportion of the firm, and our priority must be to safeguard the long term interests of Clarke Willmott.

“Clarke Willmott’s vision is to be a national firm delivering high quality legal services to national clients. The firm remains highly committed to achieving this ambition - in this respect, nothing has changed.”

The announcement follows a number of other rationalisation programmes across Birmingham’s legal sector - the largest outside the capital - which has seen firms such as Wragge & Co, Cobbetts and Eversheds all cutting staff as the economic downturn begins to bite.